


Do the Walls Come Down

by Brumeier



Series: Bite Sized Fic 2018 [25]
Category: The Trixie Belden Mysteries - Julie Campbell Tatham & Kathryn Kenny
Genre: Angst, Coming Out, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, First Kiss, M/M, Post-Canon, Prompt Fill
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-10
Updated: 2018-06-10
Packaged: 2019-05-20 09:50:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,954
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14892350
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Brumeier/pseuds/Brumeier
Summary: LJ Comment Fic for Facts prompt: Any, any,"You can spend your whole life building a wall of facts between you and anything real."(Chuck Palahniuk)In which Mart is firmly in the closet until he gets an unexpected visit from an old friend.





	Do the Walls Come Down

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Pride Month!

“Are you seeing anyone?”

Moms always sounded so hopeful that Mart hated to tell her no, even though he had plenty of excuses why he wasn’t. The easiest, because it was the truth, was that he was too busy.

“You know how it is. I’m working from sunup to sundown, which prohibits finding time for a serious relationship.”

And then he’d deftly turn the conversation to his siblings, which was an excellent distraction because Bobby was always getting in some kind of trouble and Trixie had just moved to California and Brian was planning his wedding. 

Mart always felt relieved and just a little ashamed whenever he ended a video chat with his mother. Moms deserved a real answer to her frequent inquiries about Mart’s love life, or lack thereof, and he felt like a bad son for not being honest.

The lies were easy because they were the same ones he told himself.

He was the assistant manager of the ranch, and every day he needed to prove to the owner – and himself – that he belonged there, that he was capable of handling the workload. There was a lot to manage, between the orchards, the stables, the sunflower fields, and the guests. He honestly didn’t have a lot of free time. And even on the job he wasn’t free from the questions.

“Honey, if I was thirty years younger you’d be in trouble. Are you married?”

Mart had become a master deflector. He used his vast knowledge of all things related to the ranch in conjunction with the big words he’d always had a predilection for to keep people at arm’s length.

Well, most people.

“When’s the last time you got laid?” Clarence asked as they mended one of the split-rail fences.

“I’m not discussing my sex life with a cranky old curmudgeon,” Mart replied.

“Cranky old curmudgeon is twice redundant.” Clarence leaned against the post-hole digger – the old-fashioned hand-operated kind, because he didn’t care much for modern ways of doing things even if it saved time – and looked at Mart from under the brim of his hat. “And you can’t put me off with your big words the same you do most other people.”

Mart grumbled and grabbed the new post, dropping it in the hole Clarence had just dug. “You should worry about your own love life. Isn’t Miss Sally still mad at you?”

For an old guy, Clarence was quite a player. He had three regular girlfriends and two ex-wives, though Mart had no idea how he found the time.

“I see these young girls, the way they look at you. And you’re nice, but you keep your distance. Makes a man wonder.”

Mart’s stomach clenched. He didn’t want to have that conversation with his own family, much less a leathery old farm hand. “You know, most traditional split-rail fences run in a zig-zag pattern. This is actually a mortised fence, which was big in in the UK before it took off here for –”

“Are you gay, son?” Clarence asked, interrupting Mart’s nervous babbling. “Nothing to be ashamed of, if you are. But I don’t see you looking at the guys, neither.”

Mart’s usual denials were on the tip of his tongue but for some reason he couldn’t get them to come out. His skin felt hot and too-tight. No-one had ever asked him that question before, not so directly.

“It’s okay if you’re still figuring it out,” Clarence said. “My cousin’s son only just decided he wants to be a woman, and he’s on the dark side of his thirties. Sometimes these things take time. Let’s get this post secured.”

Mart grabbed the shovel and started refilling the post hole without giving any indication of how gobsmacked he was. He hadn’t expected someone as seemingly old-school as Clarence to be so open-minded, which meant Mart himself was guilty of making stereotypical assumptions.

He wanted to ask how Clarence would feel if his son – he had four of them, all grown with children of their own – came out to him. One of the reasons Mart had left Sleepyside was to spare his parents the embarrassment if he ever decided to come out of the closet. He knew Moms and Dad loved him – they’d never been stingy about sharing that with their kids – but they were also very conservative people living in a mostly conservative town.

It was irrelevant, anyway. Until Mart found someone he wanted to be with, there was no sense involving his parents.

*o*o*o*

Mart wiped the worst of the grease off his hands with a rag. He’d spent a couple hours tinkering with the old jalopy in the shed. Working on cars was something he’d done with Brian, and it was a surprisingly relaxing way to spend some downtime.

“Hey.”

Mart looked up, took in the engineer boots and black jeans and black t-shirt adorned with a weird squared-off infinity symbol, and froze in place. For the briefest instant he was transported back in time, meeting a younger version of the man who was leaning against the John Deere tractor, eyes hidden behind sunglasses. In high school he’d looked just as disreputable in a black leather jacket and cowboy boots, dark and so different from everyone else that Mart couldn’t help being attracted.

He couldn’t stop that old attraction from bubbling back up again like no time had passed.

“Hey,” he said back. “What brings you to the ranch?”

Dan grinned and Mart’s breath stuttered, just a little. “You know me. Once a Cowhand, always a cowhand.”

Mart laughed at the joke, even though it wasn’t all that funny. Dan had a rough and tumble life before coming to Sleepyside, including being part of that stupidly-named street gang. 

“Actually, I’m here for a job interview.”

“At the ranch?”

“Do I look like a farmer? No, there’s an opening in the Sheriff’s department down the road in Springman.”

Springman. That was only a twenty-minute drive. The possibility of Dan living so close by filled Mart with equal measures anticipation and anxiety. What if he gave himself away? The only person who knew the truth about him, though they’d never actually discussed it, was Trixie. No surprise there since his sister had been an amateur sleuth as long as he could remember.

Mart struggled for something intelligent to say. “Giving up life in the big city then?” That wasn’t it.

Dan shrugged. “Things have changed. The vibe isn’t the same anymore. I’m looking for something…different. Hopefully Springman is too.”

He meant being an openly gay cop. Dan had come out nonchalantly years ago and it really hadn’t been a big deal, at least not amongst the other Bobwhites. He’d been heralded as brave and heroic, and Mart might have followed his lead back then if he hadn’t been so chicken.

“You wanna get dinner tonight?” Dan asked. “I’m only in for the weekend.”

_Too busy. The ranch takes up too much of my time. I’ll say something wrong and you’ll know I’ve been lusting after you since we were fifteen years old. I’m gonna be alone forever because I’m too scared, too scared, too…_

“I’m gay!” Mart blurted out. He stood there, shocked and appalled at what he’d just done, what he’d just _said_ , and wished a handy hole would open up at his feet.

Dan finally took off his sunglasses, and there was nothing but warm affection on his face. “Feels good to finally say it, doesn’t it?”

Mart couldn’t be one hundred percent sure, because his heart was pounding in his ears, but he didn’t hear his mother screaming from hundreds of miles away. And he wasn’t struck down by a wayward bolt of celestial wrath, which had to be a good sign.

“You, uh. You don’t seem surprised,” Mart said after he unstuck his tongue from the roof of his mouth.

“I’m a detective, remember? It’s my job to notice things.”

Dan pushed up off the tractor and tucked his sunglasses over the neck of his t-shirt. He walked toward Mart with the same swagger he’d always had in his step, though now it seemed weighted with intent.

“And I’ll turn in my badge right now if I was wrong about all those times I caught you watching me. Or the careful way you’d keep your distance, but only from me.”

A small part of him wanted to turn and run, because getting the one thing he’d always wanted seemed entirely too overwhelming, but Mart stood his ground for just that reason. He was a Belden, and Beldens never ran from a challenge.

Dan stopped, close enough to reach out and touch Mart if he wanted to. “Tell me I’m not wrong.”

Mart could see it now, the vulnerability in Dan’s eyes. He wasn’t as confident as he seemed, and for some reason that shored Mart up.

“You’re not wrong.”

Dan reached out, hesitating just shy of touching Mart’s face. “I’d really like to kiss you, Mart Belden.”

Mart was pretty sure his heart was going to pound right out of his ribcage, but he’d never felt more alive than he did in that moment. He leaned in and kissed Dan, lips hitting a little off center but it was an easy thing to compensate for. And then Dan’s hand was cupping his face and Dan’s tongue was sliding against his, and Mart didn’t care that his eyes were prickling or his whole body was shaking like a leaf.

When the kiss ended they were both gasping and Mart had both arms wrapped around Dan. 

“You have no idea how long I dreamed of doing that,” Dan confessed. 

Mart grinned. “Well, I have an inkling. How’d you know to come here? How’d you know…about me?”

“A little birdie told me,” Dan said right before he kissed Mart again.

The next time Clarence asked Mart about getting laid he was pretty sure he’d have an actual answer.

**Two Weeks Later**

Mart held his breath while he waited for his parents to process the news he’d just given them. So far neither of them looked particularly horrified or dismayed. They shared a look, and some whispered words, before turning back to face Mart via the video camera.

“I’m glad you trusted us enough to tell us, sweetheart,” Moms said. She was smiling but Mart could see the tears in her eyes. “We just want you to be happy. That’s all we ever wanted.”

Mart let out a breath. “I didn’t want to disappoint you.”

Dad leaned closer to the camera. “You could never disappoint us, son. We’re very proud of you. You’ve become a fine young man, and nothing could change that.”

Moms wasn’t the only one crying. Mart swiped his hand across his eyes. “Thanks, Dad.”

“We love you, sweetheart,” Moms said. “We hope you come home soon to visit and bring your young man with you.”

Things with Dan were still so new that Mart wasn’t ready to let everyone know who he was seeing, just that he was seeing someone. He didn’t want to put too much pressure on their burgeoning relationship.

There was a crash from somewhere in the house and Dad gave a long-suffering sigh. “That’ll be Bobby. We’ll talk again soon, son.” He gave Moms a kiss on the temple and walked off camera shouting Bobby’s name.

“You’re a good person, Mart,” Moms said. “And you deserve every happiness.”

“I love you, Moms.”

“I love you too. And give my best to Daniel.”

Mart gaped. “How…?”

“A little birdie told me,” Moms said. 

She winked, waved, and disconnected the call, leaving Mart to stare at a blank screen and wonder how he could ever have doubted his family.

**Author's Note:**

>  **AN:** Title from the Carly Simon song of the same name. Special thanks to SherlockianSyndromes for the beta and hand-holding!


End file.
